I learnt to wind foil on a JP135 Pro with a Neil Pryde F4 carbon foil so bit of a steep learning curve. My largest sail is a NP 7.8 R-SX with matching NP 95% carbon mast, however at 92 kg I am finding l still need about 12 knots gust to get on the foil, with stab angle at max lift. This particular board 's recommended largest sail is 8m so going bigger sail probably won't work. Would buying a larger board with a 9m sail work with my foil ? Do I also need a bigger front wing longer fuse ect.

I tried the np/f4 carbon foil coming from the starboard race, not much I liked about it except the "slippery and fast" feeling.
It's a pain to get going at my weigth-92- but mostly sooo unstable and so back foot pressure compared to my usual set up.
My son (63 kg) enjoys it but he's a very talented freestyler so not helpful to compare !

My opinion is you'd be better off keeping your board/sail and just getting a foil with earlier take off as opposed to buying a larger sail sail which could turn up heavier and be negative to take off.

I have to agree with Sean! Every bit of your kit is perfect for 8kts or so for your weight, except your foil... an other option, besides buying a new foil, might be to contact F4 and buy a custom bigger wing.

even then, 12 kts for 92kgs is not the minimum for your kit. A buddy of mine sails with exactly the same kit with similar weight, and gets down to 10 kts. Practice your pumping skills!

Hi Sean,
Your analysis is pretty spot on. I have endured pitch issues especially because I sail exclusively in Sydney harbour which can be a bit like a washing machine with refracted boat wakes with wind chop mixed together. I'm not looking for big angles up or downwind so would SB race setup still be a good LW option?

Technique is everything but even with perfect technique, right at the bottom end of the range at your weight it's going to be hard work with that setup. I have the same kit, JP 135 and F4 carbon foil but both are heavily modified which made a huge difference to how easy it is to get going and keep going right at the low end, and I only weigh 70kg. Standard the F4 is very pitch sensitive and hard work to keep flying when it's super light. Run your mast right back at 123cm or so in the track and move the rear straps all the way back, that's going to improve it as much as possible.

$$ alternative, get a starboard race, a 1000 wing and a 91 wide foil board or formula board; rig is fine. That's a lot of expense though, so failing that, set it up as above and work on technique.

Foiling in 12kt gusts is very good Sailor1 and my guess is that with a more powerful foil, board, rig setup accompanied by fine tuning technique will you be able to get going in lighter winds. Seeing the heavy weight pro riders getting foiling in super light winds is always inspiring. I am 70kg, using a 95cm wide Starboard Ultrasonic with the Starboard Race foil 1000 front wing 255 rear, 115 fuselage and 8.1m Severne Turbo allows me to reach my low. Guessing I am starting to foil in 9-11kts range. My rig setup is ultra light which I feel helps in the ultra light conditions. Hopefully I can shave off a few more knots in the future with improved gear and technique. I find that the 1000 racing wing on the 115 fuselage starts to become too powerful for me at 14kts.
I see that the PWA heavy riders use a max 10m rig setup, while the medium and lighter riders will use 9 and 8m sails. Best of luck with the light wind foiling journey.

Some comparison notes. I weigh 93 kg, am an old guy with limited pumping skills, but have decades of windsurfing experience.

For foiling I can get a good ride in 10 kts wind with a 7.0 or 8.5 sail, formula board, and front wing of 1120 cm2. If I use a 779 cm2 wing, I need at least 12 kts wind to get going.

Big wings are revolutionizing the sport. Guys up in Seattle are loving their Slingshot 76 (~1500 cm2) and 84 (~2100 cm2) wings for general rec foiling. Easy to pump, easy to ride, easy to jibe.

I'm 72 kgs and can get going in around 8 knots with an 8.2 metre Pryde V8 sail, but I use a JP135 board and switched to the Starboard GT-R foil setup which is an 800 front wing, 355 rear stabiliser and I think the fuselage is about 95cm. The Pryde F4's are a great foil but I think they're more of a speed foil for when there's decent breeze (10 knots +). I reckon if you want to get going in real light winds you may want to by a foil that's modular so you can change to a bigger wing when it's light. The Starboard and Sligshot foils are good for being able to do that. Good luck. :)

I think there is great advice from people above.

I am interested in getting the jp 135 fws version soon. As a rec foiler who trys to stay on the foil as much as possible and am not too concerned about speed. I plan on using the 2019 slingshot foil/90 mast with this board-(Bolt adaptors). I know CoreAs has had great success on this board and foil combo especially with the big 84 wing! From what I've heard/seen they seem to glide through the lulls and behave nicely in gusty unpredictable wind, ie small lakes.

Sailor1, if your more into speed and angles then what was mention above would be a better option for you. Imo if you were to compair the slingshot 84 wing/setup with a starboard race foil. It is like comparing a ram 3500 cummins truck to a Ferrari. Yes a Ferrari will have a higher top speed, accelerate faster, be more ajile and look cooler. But the Cummins will have more power to get through the mud( when you hit a lull foiling) it will truck on. It will be more fuel effiecent, rev at lower rpms(use less effort to keep it in the air with a smaller sail). And it will be more stable and turn slower. And price is another factor.

Hope this helps and doesn't confuse you and I'm not recommending foiling through mud

I'm an advocate of bigger wings over big sails and boards. My current setup is the following:
Board - 125liter 6'8" Sunova.
Foil - Axis 820 wing - 75cm mast
Sails. 4.2-5.2max
weight -87kg.

This setup worked today in fluky 10-12 knots WA ocean wind. Riding a bigger foil and small sail means you can really pump the board up out of the water get it on foil and flying. Once the board is off the water its pretty easy to keep a big wing flyin Also if you are out in the ocean you can use the bumps to get going by bearing downwind whilst pumping.
Ive used the SS infinity 84 and this is also an awesome bit of gear for light winds. The large foils are best for riders wanting to do low speed carves and cruising on small sails and boards.

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sailor1 said..
I learnt to wind foil on a JP135 Pro with a Neil Pryde F4 carbon foil so bit of a steep learning curve. My largest sail is a NP 7.8 R-SX with matching NP 95% carbon mast, however at 92 kg I am finding l still need about 12 knots gust to get on the foil, with stab angle at max lift. This particular board 's recommended largest sail is 8m so going bigger sail probably won't work. Would buying a larger board with a 9m sail work with my foil ? Do I also need a bigger front wing longer fuse ect.

For starters, I don't believe the recommended max sail that board manufacturers have. Once you're out of the water, the board has little to do with sail size. If you have access to a larger sail, use it. My 8.0 is so much more powerful than my 7.0 in light winds. I'm moving to The new 8.5 Hydra when it gets here.
But, the biggest factor in getting lift with less speed is the front wing. My opinion that is the best place to start. Get the biggest one money can buy. I struggled with my SB GT setup; I needed more speed to get the 800cm2 wing to work. Moving to an 1100cm2 wing in front made a huge difference. And having a 8.0+ rounds out the speed issue to get that lift.
Fuse length doesn't have a ton of benefit, other than it's harder to adjust in flight making it less prone to cavitating earlier.

Summary: bigger sail and bigger wing.

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IndecentExposur said..

sailor1 said..
I learnt to wind foil on a JP135 Pro with a Neil Pryde F4 carbon foil so bit of a steep learning curve. My largest sail is a NP 7.8 R-SX with matching NP 95% carbon mast, however at 92 kg I am finding l still need about 12 knots gust to get on the foil, with stab angle at max lift. This particular board 's recommended largest sail is 8m so going bigger sail probably won't work. Would buying a larger board with a 9m sail work with my foil ? Do I also need a bigger front wing longer fuse ect.

For starters, I don't believe the recommended max sail that board manufacturers have. Once you're out of the water, the board has little to do with sail size. If you have access to a larger sail, use it. My 8.0 is so much more powerful than my 7.0 in light winds. I'm moving to The new 8.5 Hydra when it gets here.
But, the biggest factor in getting lift with less speed is the front wing. My opinion that is the best place to start. Get the biggest one money can buy. I struggled with my SB GT setup; I needed more speed to get the 800cm2 wing to work. Moving to an 1100cm2 wing in front made a huge difference. And having a 8.0+ rounds out the speed issue to get that lift.
Fuse length doesn't have a ton of benefit, other than it's harder to adjust in flight making it less prone to cavitating earlier.

Summary: bigger sail and bigger wing.

I actually found the Starboard 115 fuselage to increase the lightwind performance over the 95 fuselage when using the 1000cm2 front wing and recommend if trying to push the ultimate lightwind performance. The front wing sits further forward when using the 115 fuselage than the 95 fuselage thus creating more lift/power. Once up and foiling the 115 is very stable and easy to adjust. It only becomes a handful when overpowered which you then can drop down to the 95 fuselage and or 800 front wing.

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IWB said..

IndecentExposur said..

sailor1 said..
I learnt to wind foil on a JP135 Pro with a Neil Pryde F4 carbon foil so bit of a steep learning curve. My largest sail is a NP 7.8 R-SX with matching NP 95% carbon mast, however at 92 kg I am finding l still need about 12 knots gust to get on the foil, with stab angle at max lift. This particular board 's recommended largest sail is 8m so going bigger sail probably won't work. Would buying a larger board with a 9m sail work with my foil ? Do I also need a bigger front wing longer fuse ect.

For starters, I don't believe the recommended max sail that board manufacturers have. Once you're out of the water, the board has little to do with sail size. If you have access to a larger sail, use it. My 8.0 is so much more powerful than my 7.0 in light winds. I'm moving to The new 8.5 Hydra when it gets here.
But, the biggest factor in getting lift with less speed is the front wing. My opinion that is the best place to start. Get the biggest one money can buy. I struggled with my SB GT setup; I needed more speed to get the 800cm2 wing to work. Moving to an 1100cm2 wing in front made a huge difference. And having a 8.0+ rounds out the speed issue to get that lift.
Fuse length doesn't have a ton of benefit, other than it's harder to adjust in flight making it less prone to cavitating earlier.

Summary: bigger sail and bigger wing.

I actually found the Starboard 115 fuselage to increase the lightwind performance over the 95 fuselage when using the 1000cm2 front wing and recommend if trying to push the ultimate lightwind performance. The front wing sits further forward when using the 115 fuselage than the 95 fuselage thus creating more lift/power. Once up and foiling the 115 is very stable and easy to adjust. It only becomes a handful when overpowered which you then can drop down to the 95 fuselage and or 800 front wing.

My theory is that the longer fuse makes it harder to pitch, thus reducing the possibility of cavitation (not breaching). The fact that the front wing goes forward is to balance the extension of the tail. But heck, we're discussing physics at this point. I added that 1100 front wing on my 115 cm fuse and absolutely love it!

I've not tried windfoiling so far, merely just been on cable to get the feel for how the foil behaves. I've talked to people elsewhere who foiled their first meter behind boats.I can imagine you're feeling confident on the setup you use the most, but windsurfing, planing and straps definitely seem to add some variables.Did you guys all start out on windsurf sets right away?

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Minicubes said..
I've not tried windfoiling so far, merely just been on cable to get the feel for how the foil behaves. I've talked to people elsewhere who foiled their first meter behind boats.I can imagine you're feeling confident on the setup you use the most, but windsurfing, planing and straps definitely seem to add some variables.Did you guys all start out on windsurf sets right away?

I did, took me 4 sessions till constant flight with the very easy/stiff/stable Lok?foil Envol I learned on. Your progress will depend a lot on which foil you pick to start.

Talking about light wind foiling, this is me yesterday in 10-12 knots of wind, with 4.6 S2Maui Dragon, F-One Levo 900 production setup (900cm2) and a 105Lx180x73cm Proto pocket board!

you don't need big sails, big boards, or lifty fat wings, with my 86kgs / 192cm and a lot of pumping this kit is adequately big enough with light wind but also very fast, reaching almost 50kp/h later in the day (15kts of wind) and being one of the fastest in a straight line due to slalomsailors having to deal with nasty chop.

www.instagram.com/tv/ByP0omlhJ7m/?igshid=1jlmpz776s107

I was testing the lower wind range capabilities of SS Infinity 84, mast 91 cm., wing position "C", sail Severne HG2-8.0m2. Wind 4-8 knots on Lake Winnebago in WI, USA. Strapless mode allowed for easier weight shifting to maintain the flight for as long as I could in wind holes.
Long video with a couple of falls Just wanted to show what a 64 yo mediocre sailor may achieve on the foil in very light conditions.
PS: I weigh 87 kg.

Sailor 1 if you want to get going in less wind, I'd be looking at a bigger foil, rather than a bigger sail. And I agree with previous comments that board size would have some but less of an effect as once the board is flying, then it's about the foil.
I have recently gone from a (1st generation) Naish WS 1220 cm2 wing to a (Naish surf) 1572 cm2 wing and it has made a massive difference to getting going in light wind. The WS 1220 would go in about 11-12 knots with a bagged out 6m wave sail. The 1572 can go in 10 knots with a 4.7m sail. I'm 70 kg. I guess I am trying to go in light winds with smallish sails m (<6m). Top speed for foiling is not what I'm after.
I've also read and seen videos suggesting the Naish lift sails will drop your wind speed threshold too. There's lots of manufacturers coming out with similar 'foil orientated' sails, so look around as I suspect the Naish isn't the only one. So maybe research that avenue as it may be a better alternative to getting up in lighter winds?
Also, when I first used the WS1220, I had the rear foil set to max lift and after much frustration, I found the reason I couldn't get going was because the angle of attack was too aggressive and the rear foil I suspect kept cavitating. When I set it to a neutral position, it flew fine. I'm not sure if the setup you have does the same thing if you set it to max angle?
I've also had reports back from a friend who's recently bought one, about the Slingshot 84 being the ducks guts in light winds. From what I can gather, it's got more potential than the setup I now have for getting going in lighter winds.

I'm impressed!! Nice video!! Can't wait to get that size wing and try it out.

I went out Saturday for my 5th venture out wind foiling. I put the Slingshot i99 wing under my Fanatic Falcon LW in "C" position. Sail was an Ezzy Cheetah 8.0. I checked the wind with Xplorer1 anemometer, and it read between 8 and 10.7mph for the 15 seconds I held it up.
I went out not expecting much, but was rewarded with a 2.5 hour session of foiling and learning. This morning I spoke with an Owner at MacKite to tell him of my success with the i99 wing. He checked a local wind station and and said for the time I was out, the wind was 8-12mph.... with two gusts to 14mph. I was stunned! I never thought I'd be out in that light of wind, having so much fun. Several flights were over a mile, on foil the entire distance. What a rush! My intention was to use the i99 front wing on my brand new Slingshot Levitator 160 that I had picked up a few hours earlier on Saturday. But I didn't want to rush into setting it up or mounting the foot straps. I'm set now, and hoping we get the wind that has been forecasted for my area for this week, I will probably get 4 more evenings out there and hopefully get the Levitator figured out.

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excav8ter said..
I went out Saturday for my 5th venture out wind foiling. I put the Slingshot i99 wing under my Fanatic Falcon LW in "C" position. Sail was an Ezzy Cheetah 8.0. I checked the wind with Xplorer1 anemometer, and it read between 8 and 10.7mph for the 15 seconds I held it up.
I went out not expecting much, but was rewarded with a 2.5 hour session of foiling and learning. This morning I spoke with an Owner at MacKite to tell him of my success with the i99 wing. He checked a local wind station and and said for the time I was out, the wind was 8-12mph.... with two gusts to 14mph. I was stunned! I never thought I'd be out in that light of wind, having so much fun. Several flights were over a mile, on foil the entire distance. What a rush! My intention was to use the i99 front wing on my brand new Slingshot Levitator 160 that I had picked up a few hours earlier on Saturday. But I didn't want to rush into setting it up or mounting the foot straps. I'm set now, and hoping we get the wind that has been forecasted for my area for this week, I will probably get 4 more evenings out there and hopefully get the Levitator figured out.

Nice going - where are you sailing?

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azymuth said..

excav8ter said..
I went out Saturday for my 5th venture out wind foiling. I put the Slingshot i99 wing under my Fanatic Falcon LW in "C" position. Sail was an Ezzy Cheetah 8.0. I checked the wind with Xplorer1 anemometer, and it read between 8 and 10.7mph for the 15 seconds I held it up.
I went out not expecting much, but was rewarded with a 2.5 hour session of foiling and learning. This morning I spoke with an Owner at MacKite to tell him of my success with the i99 wing. He checked a local wind station and and said for the time I was out, the wind was 8-12mph.... with two gusts to 14mph. I was stunned! I never thought I'd be out in that light of wind, having so much fun. Several flights were over a mile, on foil the entire distance. What a rush! My intention was to use the i99 front wing on my brand new Slingshot Levitator 160 that I had picked up a few hours earlier on Saturday. But I didn't want to rush into setting it up or mounting the foot straps. I'm set now, and hoping we get the wind that has been forecasted for my area for this week, I will probably get 4 more evenings out there and hopefully get the Levitator figured out.

Nice going - where are you sailing?

First time was in Traverse City Michigan.

The last 4 have been in Holland Michigan (my home town).

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excav8ter said..

azymuth said..

excav8ter said..
I went out Saturday for my 5th venture out wind foiling. I put the Slingshot i99 wing under my Fanatic Falcon LW in "C" position. Sail was an Ezzy Cheetah 8.0. I checked the wind with Xplorer1 anemometer, and it read between 8 and 10.7mph for the 15 seconds I held it up.
I went out not expecting much, but was rewarded with a 2.5 hour session of foiling and learning. This morning I spoke with an Owner at MacKite to tell him of my success with the i99 wing. He checked a local wind station and and said for the time I was out, the wind was 8-12mph.... with two gusts to 14mph. I was stunned! I never thought I'd be out in that light of wind, having so much fun. Several flights were over a mile, on foil the entire distance. What a rush! My intention was to use the i99 front wing on my brand new Slingshot Levitator 160 that I had picked up a few hours earlier on Saturday. But I didn't want to rush into setting it up or mounting the foot straps. I'm set now, and hoping we get the wind that has been forecasted for my area for this week, I will probably get 4 more evenings out there and hopefully get the Levitator figured out.

Nice going - where are you sailing?

First time was in Traverse City Michigan.

The last 4 have been in Holland Michigan (my home town).

Looks like a great spot - surprised to see so many miles of sandy beaches on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan.

Look forward to hearing how you go with the Levitator

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sl55 said..
I was testing the lower wind range capabilities of SS Infinity 84, mast 91 cm., wing position "C", sail Severne HG2-8.0m2. Wind 4-8 knots on Lake Winnebago in WI, USA. Strapless mode allowed for easier weight shifting to maintain the flight for as long as I could in wind holes.
Long video with a couple of falls Just wanted to show what a 64 yo mediocre sailor may achieve on the foil in very light conditions.
PS: I weigh 87 kg.

NIce video. It seems the wind is slightly more than 4-8 knots as I see occasional white caps.

I with sail 9,4-9,6 was able to go from 7 knots with wing Horue XXLW. With the wing XLW of the Horue I take off from 8 knots. Still want do biplane with wing from Foil h10 and wing XLW, but this already in next season.

I read an interview at windfoil zone that all the Light Wind videos are fake because people intend to lower the wind speed. This video, in my opinion, is an example of how to deliver the wind conditions without claiming the number. The windsocks on the air base behind the foil provide the wind speed, and you can google to learn reading windsocks. From my experience with foils I learned that the minimum wind speed depends mostly on your skills, while larger wing helps a little. The more skills you have the less important the wing size. I have had several large wings (up to 140cm) and I do not use them anymore, so I reshape them to smaller sizes 80cm or lower. The smallest wing I have is 50cm, and it seems to be too large for over 10 knots wind. It seems to be a good idea to validate light wind performance not by the minimum wind speed for a take off but by how much the board speed exceeds the wind speed.

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ZYX said..
I read an interview at windfoil zone that all the Light Wind videos are fake because people intend to lower the wind speed. This video, in my opinion, is an example of how to deliver the wind conditions without claiming the number.

This is light wind (afaik, a fellow member of the forum). I'm pretty good in light wind and this is just next level.

www.instagram.com/p/B0tWz4DgpsW/
www.instagram.com/p/B1yGKGhAL-B/

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ZYX said..
I read an interview at windfoil zone that all the Light Wind videos are fake because people intend to lower the wind speed. This video, in my opinion, is an example of how to deliver the wind conditions without claiming the number. The windsocks on the air base behind the foil provide the wind speed, and you can google to learn reading windsocks. From my experience with foils I learned that the minimum wind speed depends mostly on your skills, while larger wing helps a little. The more skills you have the less important the wing size. I have had several large wings (up to 140cm) and I do not use them anymore, so I reshape them to smaller sizes 80cm or lower. The smallest wing I have is 50cm, and it seems to be too large for over 10 knots wind. It seems to be a good idea to validate light wind performance not by the minimum wind speed for a take off but by how much the board speed exceeds the wind speed.

Nuthin light about that wind.

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Paducah said..

www.instagram.com/p/B0tWz4DgpsW/
www.instagram.com/p/B1yGKGhAL-B/

Looks very good. The video has been made and promoted by a sailing school in Netherlands in intention to get customers.
School location
52.251297, 4.756327
North wind about 350 degrees, 100% cloud coverage, video posted on August 3, Based on the local weather records the video was recorded on August 2. Wind records show 10-27 knots, which was probably less on this small inland lake. White caps may not be there because of less then 1 km of open water for waves to develop and wind variation is so high. This is where the first question comes to this video. Bart Kramer says that wind was 4-6 knots. It is normal for a skilled foiler to fly at 4-6 knots wind. But telling that it was such of consistent 4-6 wind is questionable. Such of consistency in wind speed is not common even on my Atlantic coast. I do not question Bart's ability to stay in flight at 4 knots because it has been demonstrated by others and I witnessed the same. But making a jibe at 6 knots the way Bart shows on the video is questionable. Notice the foil almost stopped in the middle of the jibe and then accelerated without pumping the sail. On the middle of his jibe he was moving with the wind so the apparent wind was nothing, while he managed to have wind power. If he says wind was 6 knots he would have 0 knots apparent wind, but we see on the video he has good force on sail. It means the wind was stronger than the minimum foil speed. I think the wind on Bart's video was 4-12 knots and he did several videos in order to get the moment when 12 knots gust allows to make that jibe. And, the white caps would not have enough time to develop because it was not consistent wind for them to develop. On your other video there is even more wind, but the sailor cannot continue the flight so the video stops. Bart probably asked his school yellow sailors to open sails so they do not move, pretending like no wind. Obviously they are holding sails in wrong position like flags. There are also very common indication of possible fake such as poor resolution and limited control over the video. Find a video on YouTube in high resolution so we can examine the video in finer details.
I do not argue the fact that Bart can get in flight in 6 and continue in 4. It is normal to do what you show on your video at 4-6 knots wind but not the jibe. On the video I posted there is no claim of any specific wind speed. The video suggests you to look and decide what wind speed you see. I see 7 knots on the wind sock on the air base in the top of the building. I assume the wind is less behind the building.
The video below is an opposition to your white caps method. I see good wind, but I do not see your white caps.


P.S. The picture of a minor you posted has a web address on its left bottom corner. Is this kind of social media you are interested besides writing on this forum?

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ZYX said..
Looks very good. The video has been made and promoted by a sailing school in Netherlands in intention to get customers.
School location
52.251297, 4.756327
North wind about 350 degrees, 100% cloud coverage, video posted on August 3, Based on the local weather records the video was recorded on August 2. Wind records show 10-27 knots, which was probably less on this small inland lake. White caps may not be there because of less then 1 km of open water for waves to develop and wind variation is so high. This is where the first question comes to this video. Bart Kramer says that wind was 4-6 knots. It is normal for a skilled foiler to fly at 4-6 knots wind. But telling that it was such of consistent 4-6 wind is questionable. Such of consistency in wind speed is not common even on my Atlantic coast. I do not question Bart's ability to stay in flight at 4 knots because it has been demonstrated by others and I witnessed the same. But making a jibe at 6 knots the way Bart shows on the video is questionable. Notice the foil almost stopped in the middle of the jibe and then accelerated without pumping the sail. On the middle of his jibe he was moving with the wind so the apparent wind was nothing, while he managed to have wind power. If he says wind was 6 knots he would have 0 knots apparent wind, but we see on the video he has good force on sail. It means the wind was stronger than the minimum foil speed. I think the wind on Bart's video was 4-12 knots and he did several videos in order to get the moment when 12 knots gust allows to make that jibe. And, the white caps would not have enough time to develop because it was not consistent wind for them to develop. On your other video there is even more wind, but the sailor cannot continue the flight so the video stops. Bart probably asked his school yellow sailors to open sails so they do not move, pretending like no wind. Obviously they are holding sails in wrong position like flags. There are also very common indication of possible fake such as poor resolution and limited control over the video. Find a video on YouTube in high resolution so we can examine the video in finer details.
I do not argue the fact that Bart can get in flight in 6 and continue in 4. It is normal to do what you show on your video at 4-6 knots wind but not the jibe. On the video I posted there is no claim of any specific wind speed. The video suggests you to look and decide what wind speed you see. I see 7 knots on the wind sock on the air base in the top of the building. I assume the wind is less behind the building.
The video below is an opposition to your white caps method. I see good wind, but I do not see your white caps.

We're just windsurfing not splitting the atom

5-10 knots is always going to be a guess, just call it light wind
Does it really matter that much?

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azymuth said..


We're just windsurfing not splitting the atom

5-10 knots is always going to be a guess, just call it light wind
Does it really matter that much?

Not any more, I assumed. But it used to be a big deal until many realized that light wind performance is the skill, not the foil. So the manufacturers stopped promoting Light Wind as they used to but most of the population has been already influenced.
This is why I think the most pleasure you get from foiling is not from flying at a light wind like a cloud, but going fast. Going faster than 3-x wind speed is very cool particularly on a lake in NL with no white caps. High speed in light wind feels and looks good. Hovering above water like a cloud in light wind does not feel good and it does not look good. The point of my initial post was to learn how to fly 20 knots on 50cm wing in light wind instead of 12 knots with XXXLW. learning is one part. The second part is the foil that needs to have much lower drag. The modern sails become a problem because they do not make them for such of low angle of attack. Going fast at Light Wind instead of just going in Light Wind is very interesting and it has high potential for us and for the manufacturers: new foils, board and sails. This is why, I think, the new measure for foiling efficiency could be the ratio board speed/wind speed. The higher the ratio the better wind speed performance you get in Light Wind. And this method of comparison does not depend on the skill as mush as the ability to get in flight in Light Wind, so you can expect accurate performance claims from the manufacturers.

SS/infinity 76/JP 135.
I don't think there is a very fine line between light wind and not (yet?), but I would consider this light(no white caps).
photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMcuFLr2L46Omsb-gs_FsqsSIfMP_lSaxPyhWAcaz0g7KJpB0CyyH0QvNR5QqXBnA?key=eUdtN1NRX1c5QmZQb19WZ1pkNjVzTTRFY0taVFd3